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OK Rick I will put my five cents worth in.
I take it that the WC is the lower than the house.
Why didn't the effluent come out of the shower base first, I take it that is a shower enclosure on the left. That being the lowest point.
Here we have a rule that says that there is a 4" trap/gully outside that is 6" below the lowest fixture so if the main backs up it discharges outside.
That rule works well as long as the blockage is not upstream on the trap/gully.
I have seen a lot of hack jobs where people put in showers without permits and don't understand the bit about the shower base becoming the lowest point, you can see it is headed for disaster when the sewer backs up, inside the house, over the carpet, beautiful.

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simon, as bill mentioned, the strainer and 2'' trap plugged up pretty quick with all the paper and waste. fortunately this pool house/ cabana is outside and it didn't affect the main house.

it's when this is a guest house that's empty is when it gets nasty.

typically in beverly hills is where we see a lot of guest homes built at ground level and the main detached house is 2-3' higher in elevation. the guest house gets wiped out before the owner or house keeper discovers the problem.

i usually keep an outside cleanout loose to prevent the un-noticed mess.

technically a backwater valve is not allowed as it's not located below the level of the curb.

rick.

phoebe it is

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I sure would hate to call that my "guest" house. that place is absolutely filthy, besides the overflow. look how much dirt is on top of the counter and leaves in the floor, pretty rough looking walls also. what a dump.

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i had a similar last year. upstairs/downstairs apts. tenants move from downstairs to upstairs. lower sits empty for about 2 weeks. blockage due to broken line (separated 90) full of roots. rocks, dirt, etc).

bath floor is a 2" step down from mail floor and shower is 2" step down from bath floor. shower fills and is blocked, toilet overflows as the upstairs has no clue there is a problem downstairs. the lower is having some work done when they discover the massive pie in the bath. none made it out of the room but it was close.

had to clear the majority of the mess BEFORE i could pull the toilet (no C.O.) much less bring machinery in.

when finished i went to the property manager and suggested she replace the toilet, told here where the pipe issues were, and someone really needed to sanitize the place, and here's my bill. i added and hour for cleanup of my stuff and she paid me on the spot.

steve

In the never ending struggle to keep the water flowing.... The Poo Poo Cowboy rides again!!!

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Thats not as bad as the time I went to test a backflow at a shopping center. Eight inch backflow in a seperate building behind the shopping center. Well the bums had broken the door down and were using this little seperate building for their sh!t house and bath house (were opening the small test cocks on the side to get water), crap and toilet paper ankle deep along with a few used needles. I told the building super there was NO WAY I'm going in there until they wash it out. He did not know what to do, so I told him to go to the dollar store and get me two gallons of chlorox and I would take a fire hose and wash it out. The tight old bastard could barely make himself get two gallons of chlorox for us, so I told him if I had to buy it, it would cost him at least $20 a gallon (motivational speaking). I washed it out, walked in and splashed the bleach over eveything, let it soak and then washed it out again. Tested the backflow and sent them a bill for time spent plus the test. Went from a simple $90 test to over $200 for time spent.

I don't see how you guys can play in the poo all day long, my hat is off to you!!

G3

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I sure as heck don't "play" in poo. I stay as far away from actual poo as possible. Yet another reason why I prefer going on the roof. I stay CLEAN. I regularly get customers commenting on how quick and clean I do the job. Something along the lines of "The last guy made a mess of himself and was here a lot longer".

As for those jobs that there just isn't any way around the poo, I either, if it's possible, grab a hose and clear an area to work or leave a card with the number to a restoration company and tell them to call me back when it's clean. If they don't want to pay for restoration, adios they can call someone else. I'm not saying I turn tail at the first sight of sewage. I have certainly got "into" it over the years. After a while, I decided that I didn't need to take every single job just to make a buck. There is a line I won't go over especially if it concerns my health. I'm more likely to contract colds, viruses, airborne/blood borne contagions etc from a poopy work area than falling to my death from the roof.
Or I can just refusing do the job in the first place or until its clean.

PS- I knew a guy that would stick his bare arm and hand down the backed up clean out in order to get the cable to go the direction he wanted. That's just gross and stupid. The funny thing is he wasn't just some regular schmuck. He's a licensed plumber and a former PHCC president.

i sure as heck don't "play" in poo. I stay as far away from actual poo as possible. Yet another reason why i prefer going on the roof. I stay clean. I regularly get customers commenting on how quick and clean i do the job. Something along the lines of "the last guy made a mess of himself and was here a lot longer".

Ps- i knew a guy that would stick his bare arm and hand down the backed up clean out in order to get the cable to go the direction he wanted. That's just gross and stupid. The funny thing is he wasn't just some regular schmuck. He's a licensed plumber and a former phcc president.

I have done that myself many times over the years,
and I have run the 3/4" cable barehanded when i could not get a pair of work gloves,
though I would not do that today !

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I have done that myself many times over the years,
and I have run the 3/4" cable barehanded when i could not get a pair of work gloves,
though I would not do that today !

That takes some serious huevos jerry.

There was this big ol' Simoan guy once, confirmed by several coworkers, that would run cable with his bare hands too
There was even a rumor he could splice cable without any tools. That part I have a hard time believing though.

Was talking with another drain guy about some local dude that never seems to wash his hands or wear gloves. Says he's pulled up next to him at an intersection a couple times and noticed his nasty black, grease-stained hands. Another time, says he saw him eating a burger--hands were just as black and filthy as the first time.